"XRP has a new shocking target in 2026"
Big predictions by XRP army members are creating a serious buzz, with some even suggesting that the cryptocurrency could reach $250 a coin. That's over 100x its current price now.
At press time, XRP is trading at $2.55, down by 0.55% over the last 24 hours.
The $250 estimates are being parroted, with macro investor Raoul Pal of Real Vision Group believing that a monumental recovery is in the cards for crypto as global liquidity has seen a dramatic downturn and monetary conditions have become more accommodative.
In late April 17, he stated that moving forward, policymakers will likely debase (lower in value) the U.S. dollar as it relates to massive debt. This will likely cause a big jump in the global monetary base and benefit risk assets such as Bitcoin and crypto more generally.
Pal said financial conditions were easing fast in early March 2025, with U.S. interest rates, oil prices, and the dollar falling. A weaker dollar will encourage investors to hedge into alternative assets like crypto and gold.
Pal also noted XRP’s simplicity, cheap transaction costs, and Ripple affiliation as appealing to crypto novices. Pal highlighted that new investors like XRP's ease of usage.
An analyst named “XRP Captain” also stated that basing on the historical data, by the end of 2026 XRP can hit $250 if whales go on accumulating XRP.
Even a Binance community post by TonyRev also suggested that XRP might reach $250 by January, mentioning positive factors such as a breakthrough in regulation, a growth in utility, and institutional support.
How does Rigetti compare to other quantum computing companies?
Rigetti already serves big customers like the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, the Air Force Research Lab, and Horizon Quantum Computing in Singapore. Like most other quantum computing companies, it measures its total computing power in qubits.
Rigetti recently launched its Novera QPU, a smaller 9-qubit computer for commercial customers that costs $900,000, and its 84-qubit Ankaa-3 quantum computing system, designed for higher-end government and research clients. It also plans to launch a modular system that merges four of its 9-qubit chips into a 36-qubit system this year. It aims to launch a non-modular 100 qubit system in 2026.
However, Rigetti still faces a lot of competition from bigger competitors like IBM Quantum, which deployed its 1,121-qubit Condor chip in 2023; and Alphabet's Google Quantum AI, which introduced its 105-qubit Willow chip in 2024.
Yet Rigetti is still securing new deals in this challenging environment. During the first quarter, it secured a $5.5 million grant by the U.S. Air Force, was granted three separate awards from U.K. government agencies, and partnered with Taiwan's Quanta Computer to develop new quantum systems. It also sold its first QPU to Montana State University, marking its first QPU sale to an academic institution, and remains in the running for a new DARPA contract.
But can Rigetti grow into its sky-high valuations?
Analysts expect Rigetti's revenue to rise 30% to $14 million in 2025 before surging 140% to $33.6 million in 2026. But as we saw in the first quarter, the milestone payments from its existing contracts have been uneven -- and its future revenue growth can be unpredictable. It also isn't expected to generate consistent profits for the foreseeable future.
With a market cap of $3.32 billion, Rigetti already trades at 237 times this year's sales and 99 times its projected sales for 2026. Those lofty valuations could limit its near-term gains, even as it locks in more customers and its quantum computing power continues to increase.
If you're investing in Rigetti for the next few decades, it might be smart to nibble on this stock after its latest pullback. But it could still be cut in half and still be considered expensive -- so investors should brace for a lot of volatility and be wary of its sky-high valuations.
This article has been published in thestreet.com via Yahoo News.
